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new year

2017 was a year for many things. For me personally, the things that stuck out the most were the new adventures I took, exploring new countries I’d never been to . The relationships that took new levels and turned into some of those that I value the most now. Acknowledging fears, like the fear of letting someone close to me again and it destroying me…again. Tackling issues like overcoming anxiety bit by bit and overall growing some lady balls. Relationships ending, saying goodbye to those who really didn’t mean anything deep down and in some cases just wanted to use you. And finally learning to just say fuck it sometimes and take a step back so things can sort themselves out.
Overall 2017 wasn’t a bad year for me, but I welcome the new year and the opportunities that will come with it.

So over the Christmas holidays, (like any girl does) I received some beauty products. Which means now I have a full beauty routine 💁🏼. So here’s a list of what I use on a weekly basis and when I use it.

My Morning Routine:

Ok so in a morning I’m normally just heading straight to work, and to be honest when it comes to beauty I’m quite low maintenance (hence why I haven’t had a beauty routine till now). So all I’ll really do is wash my face with my soap & glory vitamin C facial wash. It’s dermatologically tested which means it doesn’t affect my eczema during a flare up, it’s a three in one so it does everything my face needs doing to it all in one go, and to top it off it smells pretty damn good. A perfect way to set up my day really…for my skin at least.

Soap & Glory – Vitamin C Facial Wash

The second and last thing I do in a morning before applying my make up is of course applying a moisturiser. This actually came with the facial wash in a pack…and so far they are working really well together. At the minute I have a little bit of flaky skin on my face (due to my eczema) and its’ keeping it in check to be honest. It’d probably help more if I didn’t wear my make-up on top, but god forbid I scare off any customers at work.

Soap & Glory – All day Moisturiser

My Evening Routine:

Ok so if I have a free evening where I need a bit of TLC I’ll do more of a ‘in depth’ beauty routine. On average I’ll only do this about three times a week at most…mainly because I don’t want to clog my skin up and I like to give it a bit of a break…oh and I’m lazy.

So first up I’ll use a cleanser. I’ll normally use this first to take my make up off and just give my face a good wash. I’ve had this since before christmas, and basically it does what it says. It removes any dirt or make-up without leaving my face shiny with leftover product. It says the product is for combination to oily skin, but even though my face is a bit more on the dry side it never leaves my face damaged or dry.

The Body Shop – Seaweed Cleanser

Next I’ll use a exfoliator by Nivea. I’ve always found that Nivea is good for sensitive skin and after using it at a friend’s house I decided to purchase it and work it into my routine. I can’t fault it, if my skin ever starts playing up it calms it down pretty quickly. Not only that but it leaves my skin feeling smooth and fresh. I’ve also tried the men’s version of this and to be honest I actually think I like it more.

Nivea – Exfoliating Scrub

After that, to finish off I’ll apply some of my seaweed toner from the body shop. I have to admit it wasn’t until I asked that woman working in the body shop, that I even knew what it was. Basically it helps restore the oils in your face, which have been taken out by cleansing and exfoliating. I still don’t really know how it works, but my skin seems to be doing very well since I started using it, so I can’t really say anymore on that.

The Body Shop – Seaweed Toner

Back onto moisturiser. In the past I’ve put moisturisers on before going to bed, and the same thing always happens. I’ll wake up the next morning with all of the product on the surface of my skin, just hovering there. So I decided to go into superdrug and ask the advice of someone who worked in the beauty section. Basically she said that it might be a case that a serum would work better for my skin as a serum goes 2 or 3 layers below the skin level meaning it absorbs better. Which she was right, I chose the vitamin E moisturiser over the others due to it being a good protection barrier for people with eczema, and its perfect. Sometimes I’ll use this alone, other times I’ll use it before I use the next product depending on how dry my skin is.

Superdrug – Vitamin E Moisture Serum

Next is the night cream, which like I say I’ll sometimes use right after the previous one if my skin needs an extra boost. It basically does everything that the previous serum does with the extra antioxidants to protect my skin and keep it hydrated.

Superdrug – Vitamin E Night Cream

And that’s it! Now I may be good having a routine, but I’m not that good that I do it everyday. But to be honest like I say I wouldn’t like to do it everyday…and I’m too lazy anyway (did I mention that?). But yeah…we’re getting there! 😁

So another year has come and gone and I was thinking about all the things that have been new to me in 2016.

Firstly this year has been the first time I’ve left the country four times…which I’m hoping to do again if not better next year. But its honestly been great! In the last few years my anxiety’s got the better of me while flying but I’m hoping the more I do of it, the better I’ll get.

Next up…sort of cheating because it which links to the first one but… I went to Amsterdam twice. It was somewhere I wanted to tick off my travelling list and it just so happened that the opportunity arose to go twice. I went with the first time with one of closest friends and the second time with a group of friends. Both very different experiences, but both equally amazing. I think I’d definitely go back.

This one isn’t a good thing really but 2016 was the first time I got food poisoning…and the best bit about it? I gave it to myself. Yup that’s right. I am a cooking genius apparently! Basically I’ve learnt that I should be very carefully with rice and salmon. Lets hope that was a first and last.

Back to a positive now, I rejoined a gym. This was and is a difficult one for me as I hate working out. The last time I went to the gym was during University and that lasted all of about a month. And when I say a month what I really mean is I had a membership for a month, and I actually stepped foot in the gym around about three times. This time round I’m actually going! I’m also starting to see some improvements…at least I was before the christmas holidays. Back to it tomorrow, let the pain commence!

Speaking of pain, onto tattoos. In July for my birthday I decided to treat myself (that’s right I bought myself presents) by having two tattoos done in one sitting. To be honest I was quite proud of myself. I had one done on my ankle and one on my ribs, and I thought they’d hurt more than they did. These weren’t my first tattoos, but everyone I’d spoken to said that the ribs was one of the worst places you could get a tattoo due to the pain. Psshhh whimps I say! Heck I might even do that from now one, rather than just having one done at a time.

Returning to the travelling side of the year, I also visited a few more places in England I hadn’t seen before. Last year I decided that I would try to see more of England because I thought it was stupid that there were all of these great cities within driving distance, that I’d never even been to. So I went to Liverpool and Manchester. I only stayed at each for one night but there’s still loads to see. I might even have to return this year.

Onto spending dollars. I’m sad to say that this year I started a very unhealthy addiction… which is spending money on shoes. I don’t know how it happened as I’ve never been madly interested in footwear, but I know it wasn’t my fault. On the one hand I’m learning more about footwear brands, which is good because I’m like a grandma when it comes to what’s in fashion. But on the other hand my bank account hates me for it…I can only hope it was a phase.

Onto the last one…because let’s be honest I’m rambling now. 2016 was my year of being completely single without dating. Now this wasn’t really planned, I just wasn’t that interested or put in any effort. I don’t regret it though. A whole year without hassle or drama. A whole year to only think about myself. Don’t get me wrong, sure having someone is nice. But this year to myself was great!

Although I said I wouldn’t be creating a list of new years resolutions, there is a couple of small things I’d like to try to do this year. I won’t class them as resolutions as they will just be on going improvements. Anyway here goes…

Wear heels more – as a small girl I will always need more height, and what better way to solve this than with fancy shoes or boots! Also they of course add to the sex appeal…not.

Not be on my phone as much – in today’s world we as a whole are anti social or ‘zombie-like’ if you will. So I think this is a good way to begin reconnecting with the world again.

Go out more – I’ve never really been a drinker, but I’ve come to the realisation that I’m only young once. Also as the years go on my body won’t react as well with alcohol as it does when your younger…or so I’ve heard.

Sing – I love to sing! Let it be known not very well, but what’s that to stop me. Confidence can pull off anything. Well almost everything.

Save money! – Travelling isn’t cheap, and seen as it’s one of the things I want to do this year…I really need to save money.

Try and find the perfect foundation – this is a constant battle. I hate spending money on something that never matches. They either dry my face out or turn me into a Oompa Loompa and that’s just not a good look!

Use my camera more! – I love taking photos, I even took the time to set up a Facebook page for it…but I just don’t take enough photos. So from now on I’m going to just go on random walks every so often, plus it means I get to see the hidden areas of lovely Yorkshire!

Listen to more music – I like a bit of everything when it comes to music, but it’s quite rare I just put my iPod on anymore. To add to this I’m also going to try to keep up to date with new music because I always seem to be a hundred years behind everyone else and never know new bands names.

Let go – I try not to do this a lot but there just certain things I can’t seem to let go of, so its time. As Elsa says “let it go”

Don’t over think! – This is just a constant battle as a girl. For some reason we all just seem to have a tendency to think way to far into everything so this year, I’m going to aim to just roll with everything and not think as much…we’ll see how that pans out.

As another year passes, we all start to write a list of our hopes and dreams for the year to come. This year I’m not going to do that, what I will do though is promise myself that I won’t live this year on cruise control. I won’t let opportunities pass me by this year, and I’m going to try my best to step out of my comfort zone. This year for me is the year of travel, taking risks and finding adventure. So lets get started shall we, and as Leonardo DiCaprio said in Titanic…